Swamp Water

Swamp Water is one of those Munsch books where the title isn’t immediately evident in the story (though many readers may be familiar with ‘swamp water’ in their personal lives!) In this Munsch offering, Victoria’s grandma is taking Victoria out for lunch for her birthday, but Grandma wants to make it ‘special’. As many parents and grandparents can probably attest to, children can be quite particular and stubborn about the foods that they prefer, and Victoria is no exception. As they are walking to Grandma’s destination, Victoria begs to stop at a hamburger restaurant, a chicken restaurant, and a taco restaurant, but Grandma insists that they frequent these places all the time and that they are not ‘fancy enough’ and persists with her original plans. When they finally arrive at the “very fancy restaurant”, Victoria is skeptical but is won over by the fact that this place has ducks in the river behind the restaurant!

In predictable Munsch fashion, Victoria goes on to request hamburgers, chicken fingers and fries, tacos, and even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from the fancy restaurant, requests which frustrate the very distinguished waiter. When he informs Victoria that those items are not available on the menu, Victoria asserts herself by asking if they have bread, jelly, and peanut butter as separate ingredients. When the waiter confirms that they do, Victoria instructs him to “stick them together”, and the waiter refuses (and is quite upset that Victoria is not interested in any of the ‘fancy’ items!) Victoria takes matters into her own hands by speaking herself with the chef who accommodates her wishes.

It is at this point in the story where the swamp water finally comes into play. When the waiter asks Victoria if she would like anything to drink with her meal, Victoria requests swamp water, the contents of which must be explained to the poor waiter, and he is equally as frustrated and offended by Victoria’s drink request as he was with her food requests! After Victoria’s speaking to the chef again, and after all of Victoria’s requests have been fulfilled, Swamp Water takes a couple of interesting twists that will surprise readers (especially the end which needs no words!).

Martchenko’s classically nostalgic illustrations will delight readers with their detail and will have readers noticing different things with each reread. His brightly coloured art and exaggerated features on both the people and animals tell their own story regardless of the written text. The ducks are especially enchanting with their individuality, eager expressions, and reactions, all of which lets their personalities shine through. Munsch’s wonderful story and Martchenko’s magical illustrations will have readers engaging with Swamp Water repeatedly!

This reissue of Swamp Water features a slightly different cover with the forefront picture of Victoria, her sandwiches and swamp water, and the ducks being slightly zoomed in, and the background has been changed to purple, thereby removing the stuffy waiter and the restaurant’s background. The purple colour theme wraps around to the back cover, blending in with the original swamp water green. These changes do not make Swamp Water a ‘must-have Munsch new look’ since the story and internal illustrations have not changed; however, this classic Munsch/Martchenko combination should be a definite addition to all homes, classrooms, and libraries that didn’t purchase it when it first appeared.